Marriage between “Greeks” and “Latins” in the Venetian world. Government of minorities, confessional disagreements, and procedural convergence (late sixteenth century–late eighteenth century)
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Due to the tightening of confessional boundaries and the strengthening of matrimonial discipline following the Council of Trent, mixed marriages between “Greeks” and “Latins” did not lose validity, but they were not as easily accepted. Families resulting from such marriages became fertile ground for the missionary work of churches. Under these circumstances, the Republic of Venice was unique among the Catholic states due to the expansion of its overseas possessions to a part of the Greek world (notably the Ionian islands) and to areas such as Dalmatia and Albania, where Latin and Orthodox Slavic communities (known as “Servian”) coexisted nearby, and also due to the presence of a large Greek population in Venice. This article addresses two dimensions of mixed marriages between Greeks and Latins in the Venetian world: Firstly, their eminently political dimension, prompting Venetian authorities to reassert their pragmatic fondness for marriages between Greeks and Latins in opposition to attempts to challenge established customs that broke out sporadically in the Dominio da Mar from the late sixteenth century. Next, their administrative handling by the churches, for whom mixed marriages were, admittedly, a source of tension in a climate of rivalry, but also a source of collaboration, as such marriages were subject to the same prior approval procedures regardless of the rite according to which they were celebrated. To assess the nature of this collaboration, the local context must be taken into account. The inspection of the marital status of future spouses was one of many topics for conflict between the two churches in the eighteenth century at the local level, especially in Dalmatia, whereas in Venice itself, this inspection was rooted in similar procedures (the processetto matrimoniale), or even joint procedures between the Catholic Patriarchal curia and the Orthodox archbishop.
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